Life insurers saved R347-million in 2005 by preventing dishonest policy holders and financial advisers, as well as crime syndicates, from making fraudulent claims. This was an increase of nearly 40% on the previous year, Gerhard Joubert, chief executive of the Life Offices’ Association said on Thursday.
Mining exploration company Wits Gold, which is planning to list on the JSE at the end of April, will provide investors seeking leverage a long-term option on the gold price through its access to an ore resource of 1420-million troy ounces of gold in the Wits Basin,
A rural security company established to create jobs in the San community in the Northern Cape has already secured contracts in three provinces. Gert Schoombie, managing director of Sanda Security, said the first group of security guards consisting of members of the !Xun and Khwe community had received their certificates.
Athens Paralympics gold medallist Oscar Pistorius and Commonwealth Games stars Hilton Langenhoven and David Roos were among a host of disabled sport stars banking on success as the 2006 Nedbank South African Sport Association for the Physically Disabled Games opened in Bloemfontein on Monday.
Moroka Swallows enhanced their log standing when they beat their visitors, Bloemfontein Celtic, 1-0 in their Premier Soccer League encounter played in Germiston on Saturday. In other matches, Santos beat Jomo Cosmos, Black Leopards beat a determined Supersport United and Free State Stars beat Ajax Cape Town.
Gold exploration company Wits Gold was likely to list on the JSE in the middle of April as part of the company’s strategy and to increase the company’s profile, chief executive officer Marc Watchorn said on Wednesday. In 2004, the company acquired gold resources from AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold.
An increase of between 10% and 20% in milk prices for Free State farmers is needed for them to stay in business, the local milk producers’ organisation said on Friday. ”There is great anxiety among Free State milk farmers about the ever-increasing input costs,” chairperson Koos Pienaar said.
Phil Naledi has changed the lives of residents along a leafy street in the north-eastern Johannesburg suburb of Sydenham. He earns R900 a month for guarding the houses in the relatively affluent suburb, working 12-hour shifts. ”No one can make a life if they spend so much time working for this little money,” he explains.
Police were keeping an eye on striking private security guards in the Johannesburg city centre on Friday. About 100 guards had gathered at Beyers Naude Square by 9am, police said. In other centres, striking security workers were also expected to march in support of their demands for better wages and working conditions.
Protesting security guards in Pretoria began to disperse on Thursday afternoon after their strike turned violent earlier, with a security vehicle set alight and rubbish strewn in the inner city. At one stage police fired rubber bullets at the protesting guards in an effort to calm the situation.
Police fired rubber bullets at protesting guards after they apparently set alight a security van in Pretoria on Thursday afternoon. Guards made their way to Church Square, trashing rubbish bins and causing havoc in the city centre. Shops were also set alight. The violence came on the first day of a security-guard strike in seven provinces.
Security-guard employers were reporting little absenteeism in Johannesburg and the East and West Rand on Thursday, the first day of a two-day security-industry strike in six provinces. In the Cape and Pretoria, however, some companies experienced 80% absenteeism, and cases of intimidation were reported.
An estimated 90 000 security guards from 13 unions will strike for two days from Thursday, South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) security industry coordinator Jackson Simon said on Thursday. The figure is down from the 150 000 mooted on Wednesday.
The head boy of a rural high school in the northern Free State has lost his title after allegedly sexually harassing schoolgirls, Die Volksblad newspaper reported on Wednesday. The boy among other things apparently sent photographs of himself naked to some of these girls with his cellphone, according to the report.
Thirteen security guard unions will embark on a two-day strike in six provinces on Thursday and Friday, in support of higher wages and better working conditions — including the right to lunch breaks and using a toilet without being charged for deserting a position of duty.
Sober reflection and an objective perspective are one thing; but being a wet blanket is quite another. And the soggy rags have been out in force since Sunday. The drippy lament, like Chinese water torture, has involved hammering the same muddy point over and over again, until one is ready to confess to anything.
Orlando Pirates squandered chances and came out two points poorer in the intense Premier Soccer League title race after a 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Free State Stars at Ellis Park on Wednesday night. The draw was nothing less than a calamity for the Buccaneers.
A suggestion by Moroka Swallows to their long-time Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates to stage a Premier Soccer League ”double header” bonanza at Ellis Park on Wednesday night has been snubbed by the Buccaneers. Pirates are due to play Free State Stars at Ellis Park on Wednesday night.
The murder trial of the wife and four relatives of slain senior Free State official Noby Ngombane was postponed in the Bloemfontein High Court on Monday because further information had emerged in the investigation. The court agreed to a postponement until October 23, sought by the state.
The Absa Cup turned into a ”cup of controversies” as a 10-man Orlando Pirates sneaked a 1-0 win over Free State Stars at an emotional Johannesburg Stadium on Saturday night. In other matches, Supersport United were defeated 3-1 by Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns beat Lamontville Golden Arrows 1-0 and Santos beat Island FC 6-0.
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South Africa has taken a giant step towards the goal of gender equality and the emancipation of women in the recent municipal election, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. The election results show the success the African National Congress has achieved to increase the numbers of women in the municipal system, he said.
Despite about 800 service delivery protests held across the country and an election boycott in Khutsong, the African National Congress has emerged from the municipal elections having consolidated its already firm hold on local government, with no stay-aways to speak of (other than Khutsong).
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The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has called for a multi-party governance system in the Western Cape after Wednesday’s local government elections. The party’s leadership made the call on Friday after no single party won an absolute majority in Cape Town, paving the way for political parties to form coalitions.
The new president of the South African Rugby Union has been in power for a week. Like all his predecessors since readmission in 1992, Oregan Hoskins was elected not because of who he was, but who he wasn’t. Given the two years of turmoil that preceded last Friday’s vote, it’s hard to remember that Hoskins’s predecessor was welcomed as warmly as the likeable Durban lawyer.
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The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) hopes to have posted 90% of the local government election results by sunset, its chairperson Brigalia Bam said on Thursday. A 47% voter turnout had been recorded by 10.45am, Bam said in a briefing at the IEC’s national operations centre in Pretoria.
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Provisional results show a 46,72% poll with just more than 14-million votes cast from a pool of 21Â 054Â 957 registered voters. The African National Congress had swept the board in the Northern Cape by 9.45am on Thursday, and the DA’s worst fear seemed to have come true in the Western Cape.
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A holiday atmosphere took hold of strife-torn Khutsong early on Wednesday afternoon as residents opted for soccer instead of voting. However, Khutsong voters make up only a fraction of 1% of the country’s 21-million voters and should not be concentrated on to the detriment of the others, President Thabo Mbeki said.
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Voting got off to a good start despite a few problems, including flooding, at some voting stations, the Independent Electoral Commission said on Wednesday. By 9am, 99% of voting stations were open. Police used rubber bullets to disperse youths in Khutsong and extinguished burning tyres with a water cannon.
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South Africa’s third post-1994 local government election got under way without obvious hitches at 7am on Wednesday. President Thabo Mbeki was the first voter to cast his ballot at the Colbyn voting station in Pretoria. He was welcomed by Independent Electoral Commission chairperson Brigalia Bam and chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula.
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/ 28 February 2006
Free State rugby boss Harold Verster remains mum on reports that ousted South African Rugby Union president Brian van Rooyen had allegedly tried to bribe him, media reports said on Tuesday. Van Rooyen reportedly offered Verster R3-million and a Test match if his union switched allegiance to Van Rooyen before the presidential election.
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/ 27 February 2006
Bloemfontein Celtic pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent years when they defeated log leaders Sundowns 2-1 in Bloemfontein on Sunday. In other Premier Soccer League matches, Pirates beat Supersport United 3-1, Santos posted a 3-1 victory over Dynamos and Silver Stars drew 1-1 with Free State Stars.
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/ 25 February 2006
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The African National Congress is serious with its undertaking to root out corruption, Mathews Phosa, businessman and ANC national executive member, said on Friday night. Phosa was speaking to minority groups in Bloemfontein at a function organised by the ANC in the Free State.